Jim Thorpe: All-American Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sac and Fox

The "Black Hawk War" is perhaps best known today for the service of Illinois Milita Captain Abraham Lincoln, whose regiment did not arrive until all conflict had ended. Though Thorpe was "5/8s Indian" by his own reckoning, he was most widely identified as a Sac and Fox Indian for most of his public life.

Answer: Pop Warner

Thorpe first attracted Warner's attention when the coach saw the untrained boy defeat varsity track athletes at the high jump while dressed in his street clothes. Warner was further impressed when Thorpe evaded the entire Carlisle football team in a tackling drill. Pop kept the then undersized Thorpe away from football in 1907, focusing him on track and field while he filled out physically. Though the great coach made his name largely as the coach of both Thorpe and fellow football immortal Ernie Nevers (with whom Thorpe played on the 1928 Chicago Cardinals squad), Warner is probably best known today for the children's football league which bears his name.

Answer: Walter Camp

One of the most influential figures in college football history, Camp is at least partially responsible for many of the core rules that govern the game today, including the play from scrimmage, the 11-man team, and the first system of "downs". He was instrumental in the development of the NCAA, and was a prominent figure in the regulation of the game until his death in 1925.

His All-America teams, named annually from 1898 to 1924, were the first recognized standard of their nature.

Answer: Lafayette College

Thorpe's versatility at Carlisle was legendary. He was an All-American in four sports (football, track, basketball, and lacrosse) and won varsity letters in seven more.

Answer: Pentathlon

The now-defunct pentathlon was a five-event relative of the decathlon; Thorpe won four of the five events, scoring twice as many points as his nearest competitor. Meanwhile, his performance in the decathlon was so strong that it would have won him a medal in the event as late as 1948. Thorpe did compete in the high jump and long jump, but finished out of the running, placing fourth and seventh, respectively. For the record, the United States' entry in the 1912 modern pentathlon (which features horse riding, fencing, pistol shooting, swimming, and distance running) was none other than future World War II general George S. Patton.

Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Contrary to popular belief, Eisenhower did not injure his knee trying to tackle Thorpe, nor was this his last game. "Ike" played one more game against Tufts, injured his knee again, and finally gave up on football after injuring the knee a third time in a riding accident.

He would later try his hand at boxing; this, predictably enough, led to yet another knee injury! Thankfully, Eisenhower would go on to make his contribution to society in myriad of other ways, but that is another quiz.

Answer: He had played minor league baseball during his hiatus from Carlisle, violating the strict rules against professional athletes then in force for Olympic competition

Thorpe had played for the Rocky Mount, North Carolina team in a low Mid-Atlantic league. This was actually a common practice for amateur athletes in the off-season, but most of Thorpe's peers played under assumed names, a nuance lost on the naïve young competitor. It is worth noting that the runners-up in both the decathlon and pentathlon would reject their "new" medals on principle.

Answer: Los Angeles Dodgers

Though Thorpe was no Bo Jackson as a baseball player, he was no Michael Jordan, either. In his last year, he hit .327 for the Braves in 60 games after a midseason trade. Thorpe's failure to shine before then may be attributed to his strained relationship with Giants manager John McGraw, who, prior to the trade with Boston, controlled Thorpe's baseball rights under the strict reserve clause then in effect. McGraw thought little of Thorpe's seemingly lax training habits, and Thorpe, who had gotten used to Pop Warner's diplomatic style, chafed under McGraw's legendary high pressure tactics. Still, when viewed analytically, Thorpe's major league performance was not bad: he sported a lifetime OPS+ of 99, just under the normative league average of 100.

Answer: Jim Thorpe

The presidency was largely a ceremonial post, and Thorpe was certainly past his prime by 1920, but he still showed his athletic prowess to great effect in his professional career, including (allegedly) once kicking a 76-yard field goal. In 1963, he was named a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Answer: True

Just as Jim Thorpe was a "professional" in 1912 in only the most technical sense of the word, so too were Thorpe's medals restored on a technicality. The 1912 International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules stated that all challenges to competitors' amateur status must be made within 30 days of the games' end; Thorpe's status was not challenged for almost six months. Faced with this evidence (presented with zeal by Thorpe fans Robert Wheeler and Florence Ridlon), the 1982 version of the IOC voted to recognize Thorpe as co-champion of the 1912 decathlon and pentathlon.

Thanks for playing! If you have any questions or comments, please send me a message.